Singing with Crows explores the intersections of religion with politics and with our common life.

Sunday, August 05, 2012

Sikhism

In light of the mass killing at a
Sikh temple earlier today (08/05/2012), I am posting this article with hope
that it may provide readers with basic information about a religion which is
not well known in the United States. With more than twenty-seven million
adherents worldwide, Sikhism is the fifth largest religious group. Recent
estimates place the U.S. population of Sikhs at somewhere between 500,000 and
700,000, with approximately 20% of the total living in California.(Population figures are difficult to obtain
because the U.S. census does not disaggregate Sikhs as a separate religious or
ethnic group.)

Sikhism is a relative newcomer to
world religious practice, having been founded by Guru Nanak Dev in the latter
part of the fifteenth century.Born into
a Hindu family in 1469, Guru Nanak early exhibited a deep interest in and gift
for the spiritual life.As a young man
tending his family’s herd of cattle, he engaged both Hindu and Muslim holy men
of the area in deep spiritual discussion.After his marriage at the age of 16 and the birth of his two sons, he
was employed as an accountant but spent many hours of the evenings and early
mornings in meditation and hymn singing.In the latter he was accompanied by a childhood Muslim friend who played
the rahab, a stringed instrument.

Following an intense experience of
spiritual enlightenment, Guru Nanak devoted the remainder of his long life to
travel throughout the Punjab region of India and beyond, singing his hymns and
preaching a reformed religious practice which, while sharing some aspects with
both Islam and Hinduism, became recognized as a new religion separate from
either belief.Near the end of his life
he designated one of his most faithful disciples as his successor.The succession of leadership continued
through ten gurus until Guru Gobind Singh became the last in human form.This Tenth Master established the Sikh Holy Scriptures, the Guru Granth Sahib, as his successor.Thereafter
there has not been one individual serving as the head of the Sikhs.Instead they look to the enlightenment and
teaching found in their scriptures as the source of leadership.

Like Muslims and Jews, Sikhs believe
in a strict monotheism.Their philosophy
states that there is One God, who is creator, sustainer, and destroyer.With Hindus and Buddhists they share a belief
in reincarnation.For Sikhs the goal of
human life is to break the cycle of death and rebirth and to merge with God.

Sikhs acknowledge the inseparability
of all being and divinity in the faith statement, “All is God.”For Sikhs God is gender-neutral, a belief
which makes them nearly unique among the world’s major religions.

Other tenets of the Sikh faith
include insistence on equality among humans with no regard to race, class,
caste, or gender, and a commitment to justice for and service to less
privileged members of society.Most
organized gurdwaras, where Sikhs gather for worship, support a kitchen
dedicated to serving free meals to all who come, with no limits based on race
or religion.

Sikhs practice a rigorous discipline
of daily prayer and scripture reading, but with a generous spirit toward those
who because of circumstance are unable to follow the daily schedule.They specifically decline to practice what
they refer to as blind ritual, which includes fasting, making of pilgrimage, and
any form of idol worship.While many
Sikhs practice vegetarianism as a spiritual and ethical discipline of
moderation, the religion includes no food taboos apart from teaching its
adherents to shun that which harms the mind and body.Because living in harmony with other beings
is an essential part of the Sikh way of life, adopting a vegetarian diet is often
the logical outcome of their ethical reflections.

The Tenth Guru established the
Khalsa, a spiritual sister and brotherhood into which Sikhs can be initiated,
or baptized, devoting themselves to purity of thought and action.Members of the Khalsa wear what are referred
to as the Five K’s as marks of their devotion.These are (1) Kesh - uncut hair and beard, as given by God, to sustain
him or her in higher consciousness; and a turban, the crown of spirituality;
(2) Kangha - a wooden comb to properly groom the hair as a symbol of
cleanliness; (3) Katchera - specially made cotton underwear as a reminder of
the commitment to purity; (4) Kara - a steel circle, worn on the wrist,
signifying bondage to Truth and freedom from every other entanglement; and (5)
Kirpan - the sword, with which the Khalsa is committed to righteously defend
the fine line of the Truth.(Definitions
taken from fateh.sikhnet.com).

Because of these distinctive marks of
their religion, Sikhs who have immigrated to the US and other western countries have
frequently encountered harassment and discrimination.Immediately after 9/11 there were a number of
incidences of Sikh men being attacked because they were mistakenly believed to
be Muslims.The EEOC reports that
complaints by Sikhs regarding workplace discrimination sharply increased in
2002 and have continued at a high level.Twenty-five percent of the complaints by Sikhs to the EEOC have been
found to be meritorious, a higher percentage than that for all complaints filed
with the agency.

The kirpan carried by modern-day
Sikhs is a small dagger with a two-inch dull curved blade.Security forces which do not understand or respect
its religious significance frequently bar observant Sikhs from public
spaces.In April US Sikhs were compelled
by the US Secret Service to choose between attending an interfaith meeting with
Pope Benedict XVI without their kirpans and violating one of the basic
requirements of their belief.

Sikh representatives chose
faithfulness.In a press
release issued at the time, Anahat Kaur, secretary general of the WSC-AR, stated,
“We have to respect the sanctity of the kirpan, especially at such inter-religious
gatherings. We cannot undermine the rights and freedoms of religion in the name
of security.”The Supreme Court of
Canada has ruled that initiated Sikhs wearing kirpans must be accommodated as a
matter of religious freedom.In a 1996
ruling by the Ohio First District Court of Appeals, the conviction of a Sikh
doctor for wearing the kirpan in a court appearance was overturned.Judge J. Painter wrote in his opinion, “To be
a Sikh is to wear a Kirpan - it is that simple.”

As
citizens of the United States
we enjoy a wide range of religious freedoms.For members of the major religions it is easy to takes those freedoms
for granted.Members of less well known
religious groups, such as the Sikhs, frequently must devote substantial
resources to defending what should be theirs by right.We all need to remain vigilant, for
oppression of one group diminishes us all.

1 comment:

I am humbled by those who see God as universal, the supreme being who does not reserve the right of passage into his realm for any privileged group of people, and the Sikhs act on that premise. Thanks for your article.

About Me

My interest in religions of the world was awakened by early reading of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology; nurtured by classes in literature, comparative religion, and cultural anthropology at Susquehanna University; and expanded and refined during the decade that I spent earning an MAR at Lancaster Theological Seminary. While standing firmly in the progressive Protestantism of the present-day Moravian Church, I welcome opportunities for ecumenical and interfaith interaction.
My commitment to peacemaking and justice advocacy has guided my entire adulthood. My love of music and participation in music-making are life-long passions.
Most of the articles posted here were published originally in my regular column "Musings" for our local newspaper.